Review: Samsung Galaxy Fit2 band – Sports bands have two key benefits. First, they are much lighter than watches. Secondly, they are just much cheaper than smartwatches. Until now, we mostly bought cheap sports bands from Xiaomi, Huawei and Honor, a Samsung His portfolio mainly included more expensive offers. Meanwhile, the band hit the market Samsung Galaxy Fit2, which is clearly cheaper than its first version – it comes closer in terms of price to the products of Chinese producers. Whether Samsung Galaxy Fit2 has a chance to win against the tough competition it is Mi Smart Band 5, Honor Band 5 whether Huawei Band 4? Let’s check it.
How do we rate design?
Design of the headband Samsung has many features in common with other products of this type. The element with electronics and display is embedded in a silicone strip and can be removed by squeezing it out of the hole. The strap is fastened with a buckle similar to that of a classic watch. Thanks to this, the clasp does not irritate the hand and sticks out less, which is very important during sports. The clasp is secure and you don’t have to worry that the band will unfasten itself.
Samsung Galaxy Fit2 is so light that several times during the tests I thought that I forgot to put on the band before going to sleep, when I had it on my wrist the whole time. This is the greatest advantage of the band over a sports watch – it is smaller, lighter, does not disturb and the hand sweats less, because the surface adjacent to the body is much smaller. If someone is not used to wearing watches or simply doesn’t like them, a wristband may be a much better solution. Fit2 weighs only 21 grams and measures 46.6 x 18.6 x 11.1 mm.
To recharge Samsung Galaxy Fit2 we do not have to remove the module with electronics from the belt, but connect a special terminal with contacts with a latch. The charging module has a very short cable a few centimeters long, which means Fit2 we can connect either to the laptop or to the phone charger itself. Here is also, in my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of the band’s design. Charging, however, could have been solved differently, even magnetically – such a solution was found in Mi Smart Band 5which is from Samsung cheaper. Connecting and disconnecting the charger w Fit2 it is cumbersome and resembles cheaper and older sports bands.
Housing Fit2 it has no physical buttons. There is one sensor button under the screen, and the rest is controlled with gestures on the display. This simplifies the design, but it must also be admitted that the physical button is more convenient, because it gives feedback whether it has been pressed and can be easily felt under the finger. Fit2 it is waterproof up to 5 atmospheres, i.e. 50 meters submersion. You can bathe with it or swim in the pool, and lock the screen during training so that the water does not cause unwanted interaction.
What do we think about the display?
Samsung Galaxy Fit2 has a screen size of 1.1 inches and a resolution of 126 x 294 pixels. It was made in AMOLED technology, which guarantees saturated colors, very good contrast and readability in sunlight. Same as Mi Smart Band 5, Fit2 it has a larger screen than the older generations of bands that offered displays with a diagonal of less than one inch.
Brightness control can be set manually, and auto dimmer can be set to 4, 7, 10, 15 or 30 seconds, as well as one minute or five minutes.
The display works well and I have no objections to it. However, I needed a little practice for the screen to respond to my gestures in the right way after the first try.
Specs and Features –
Fit2 runs under the proprietary FreeRTOS operating system. It has 2 MB RAM and 32 MB of built-in memory. Connectivity is achieved only through Bluetooth v5.1. The sensor suite includes an accelerometer, gyroscope and optical heart rate sensor. The sports band is almost always a closed system – you cannot install anything or copy any files. Therefore, the specification is less important, it just matters if it works well or not.
The main screen is the clock face. It cannot be changed from the level of the band itself, but only from the application level Samsung Galaxy Wearable. There, we have a choice of 12 separate categories of dials, and within the category, you can choose a different color version and a different set of data displayed on the screen.
By going from the main screen to the right, we will find a daily summary of steps, heart rate and sleep, the possibility of starting a selected training, which in the band itself is up to 10 types to choose from. Next we have a stress measurement, daily and hourly weather, a stopwatch and a timer, and a reminder to wash your hands. The factory-set widgets end here, but in the settings you can add more: calendar, heart rate, multimedia control, sleep summary, step summary, and manual tracking of the number of glasses of water drunk. The set and order of widgets can be freely modified.
In the settings pulled out from the top edge, we find manual adjustment of screen brightness, do not disturb mode, media control, notification vibration off, screen lock for immersion in water, find my phone, night mode and options. Here you can also manually change the order of the functions.
Fit2 automatically measures 4 types of activity – running or walking at the right pace, cross trainer, ergometer and dynamic training, provided that each training is performed for at least 10 minutes. In the band, we will find 5 default sport modes that we can start manually – running, walking, cycling, swimming and other training. A maximum of 10 such sport modes can be saved in the band’s memory, and you can choose from as many as 94 different types of sports that are listed in the application Samsung Health. In fact, these modes differ mainly in the description, but they allow you to organize the types of saved training sessions for later summaries in the Health app.
In fact, the role of a sports band boils down to several basic areas of operation – it allows you to add information about the pulse to training, so monitor the effectiveness of training, track the amount of movement during the day, monitor sleep and receive notifications from the phone. These elements are common to most such products, and the case Samsung fall out similarly. The main advantage of choosing a product Samsung is integration with the ecosystem Samsung – no need to install third party programs, but only system applications can be used. The pairing process is easier because Samsung detects the band automatically and offers to connect to it.
Other differences are the implementation of the individual functions of the band. I have no objections to measuring sleep and heart rate, because they work similarly everywhere. I like the fact that notifications can be answered with one of the predefined messages – these in turn can be set in the application Wearable. This is not only offered by other bands, but even watches Huawei and Honor with a large display – there it is possible to read only, without any possibility of any reaction, even with the “thumb”.
What was missing is, firstly, the ability to remotely release the camera shutter, and secondly, the measurement of blood oxygenation, which is so important at these times, which also found its way to many sports bands before the virus appeared. Although Samsung it has reminders to wash your hands, but I find this a less useful feature than the two mentioned above that it ran out of.
Fit2 it works smoothly and without problems – it does not stutter and does not make you wait for screen switching.
How long does the battery last?
Battery capacity Fit2 is 159 mAh. According to the manufacturer, such a battery allows for 21 days of simplified operation when we do not use intelligent functions, but rather treat Fit2 as a watch. When we run all health monitoring and notification functions, the band works for 15 days of normal use. In my case, the time of operation with continuous sleep and pulse monitoring was closer to 10 days. This is still a very good result, allowing you to constantly wear the band without worrying that it will discharge in the least convenient moment. My main objection mentioned during the design is the way of charging through the element with contacts attached with a latch. If Samsung could prove to be a better solution than the competition in this field.
Our final assessment
On Samsung Galaxy Fit2 I would definitely choose to have a phone Samsung – it simplifies the matter, does not require the installation of third-party applications, helps to keep the system in order. If I were considering a sports armband Samsung in combination with a smartphone from another manufacturer, it benefits from quick responses to notifications directly from the wristband and a clear interface. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that the charging method is not very convenient and outdated, the blood oxygenation is not measured, and the price is higher than competitive solutions. But surely the headband Samsung Galaxy Fit2 there are not enough significant disadvantages that anyone could regret such a purchase. One can only wonder if it is worth paying for it several dozen percent more expensive than for the products of its direct competitors.
Who is it for Samsung Galaxy Fit2:
- For the fans Samsung and its device ecosystem
- For those looking for a solution lighter than a watch
- For those looking for an inexpensive device from a well-known and trustworthy manufacturer
For whom it is not Samsung Galaxy Fit2:
- Not for those looking for the best price / performance ratio
- Not for people looking to measure their blood oxygen SpO2
- Not for those who would like to charge the device with a magnetic stand or wirelessly
The main advantages and disadvantages Samsung Galaxy Fit2
The advantages of the headband Samsung Galaxy Fit2:
- Light and handy – no feel on your hand
- Waterproof
- Large, for a band, AMOLED display
- Works smoothly and hassle-free
- 24/7 pulse measurement, sleep monitoring
- Ability to reply to notifications with predefined messages
- Works long on battery
- It integrates well with the ecosystem Samsung
Disadvantages of the wristband Samsung Galaxy Fit2:
- Blood oxygenation SpO2 is not measured
- No remote shutter control for the camera
- Inconvenient to use battery charging clip
- There is no physical button, only a sensory one
- More expensive than direct competition
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